Ghost Rider Annual (Vol 6)

Mercy, Idaho: A small town in the hills with more than its fair share of secrets. A winged-terror that haunts the woods; an irresistible pull on the desperate and the suicidal; and now a stranger on a low-slung chopper, with fire in his eyes. For Johnny Blaze - searching for a way to wage war against heaven itself - the frozen forests of Mercy might just provide a path through the Pearly Gates...


FLASHBACK: The deputy finds the old sheriff who has hung himself in a barn, and glimpses something monstrous (1). The old sheriff, a devout man, had been depressed ever since his wife died (2). When his neighbors hear a scream from his barn, they call the deputy, who finds the sheriff has seemingly hung himself, and catches a glimpse of a large, winged creature. As he thinks to himself that he isn’t ready to die yet, it departs, leaving him unharmed (3). The sheriff of Mercy was once a seraph entrusted with guiding the worthy into paradise. He stayed neutral when Zadkiel rose to wage war on Heaven, but when he openly queried the rule that forbade suicides entering Heaven, Zadkiel’s host attacked him and he fell to Earth. Once there he called to those who were suicidal but whose religious beliefs prevented them claiming their own lives, and slew them, ensuring they would be able to enter Heaven (4).

SYNOPSIS: In a diner in winter bound Mercy, Idaho, the local deputy tries to convince a visitor to town to leave, thinking he is another of the spate of suicidally depressed individuals who have recently been drawn to the town. The visitor, Johnny Blaze, corrects him, revealing he is following up a newspaper report about a sighting of the "Idaho Angel,” but the deputy, knowing the town also suffers visits from would-be monster hunters, denies its existence, despite briefly recalling catching a glimpse of it himself, and warns Blaze to leave town. Blaze goes back to his hotel to sleep, but wakes from a nightmare about an angel to spot another visitor to town, a woman he saw in the diner, walking out into the snowy woods. Blaze hastily follows, but is seen by the deputy, who tries to stop him at gunpoint, thinking Blaze is another would-be suicide. When a scream distracts the deputy, Blaze disarms him, but the sheriff arrives out of nowhere, pointing his rifle at Blaze. Tired of the delays. Blaze transforms into Ghost Rider, knocking the sheriff over; telling the sheriff and shocked deputy to follow, he stalks off towards where the scream originated. They find the woman from the diner lying in the snow, her wrists slashed; as she dies, she reveals that something attacked her, and Ghost Rider concludes they interrupted her attacker. The next day the sheriff arranges for hunters to scour the woods, while Blaze explains to the deputy that he is hunting for an angel to help him reach Heaven, where he has work to do. The deputy tells him of the old sheriff’s demise and how he glimpsed what might be their angel. The sheriff, deputy and angel go into the woods hunting the creature together, but when the deputy discovers his gun is empty, the sheriff sends him back to get more clips, promising he and Blaze will wait for him to return before moving on. Once the deputy departs however, Blaze transforms into Ghost Rider, and reveals he has figured out that the sheriff is the killer angel Transforming into his winged form, the sheriff attacks, seemingly ignoring Ghost Rider’s attempt to convince the angel to help him against Zadkiel. The angel gains the upper hand, and is about to slay Ghost Rider when the deputy returns, distracting the angel, and Ghost Rider rallies and overpowers him. The angel explains why he fell from Heaven and has been murdering people, and reveals that while Blaze should go to Hell when he dies, had the angel slain him, then the key to Heaven the angel carries would have allowed Blaze to go there instead and confront Zadkiel. Now, however, Ghost Rider is forewarned, and since suicides are barred entry, he must resist the angel’s attempt to slay him. The angel attacks again, and though Ghost Rider wants to lose, he ends up slaying the angel.

Aug 2008

Marvel Comics

75960606429800111

2

August

2008

Comic Rack Variant

Direct

1st

United States

$3.99

Modern Age

Supernatural Superhero

English

Annual

2018-07-02 22:09:23

Ghost Rider Vol 4

A Town Called Mercy

~$82.93

2026-03-03

2018-07-02 22:09:23